6 Popular Features In New Homes That Young Couples Are Willing To Overspend On

With technology, many of our typical household items have been upgraded and revolutionised. From features that help us to maximize storage to high-tech gadgets that boost security and convenience, newly furbished homes today tend to have some similar designs.

Here are 6 popular features in new homes that young couples are willing to spend the extra buck on:

#1 Platform Bed

Platform beds are a type of bed frame in the form of a raised platform. A mattress is laid on top of this platform. Platform beds are a practical and functional solution to smaller bedrooms.

Platform beds give you more drawers for storage under the bed. This additional storage space has become more important with the size of new houses these days continuing to shrink. It also saves you the trouble of having to clean the area under the bed.

Prices of platform beds differ depending on the type and size of the platform and mattress.

#2 Digital Lock

Digital locks are now more commonly found on front doors instead of traditional door locks. Digital locks provide both convenience and security. Access can be granted through a number of ways – biometric, keypad, RFID and Bluetooth.

With a digital lock, you no longer have to bring around a key and risk the possibility of losing it or having it stolen. Digital locks allow you to use your fingerprint, key in a passcode or other methods to enter your home.

Other features of a digital lock include restricting access during a certain timeframe. This could come in extra handy when you head for overseas trips. Sharing the passcode with close family would also reduce the hassle of having to get duplicate keys.

Many of these digital locks can be accessed using your smartphone, notifying you when someone has failed the authentication or track who and when someone has returned home.

#3 Open Concept Kitchen

An open kitchen helps to make your house feel more spacious. Popular features of an open kitchen concept include a bar top and island. Many couples also replace an entire wall with a with a bar counter. These kitchens can be seen completely from the outside so you can continue to have conversations with your friends in the living room while cooking in the kitchen.

A common worry with regards to kitchens is the smell that permeates to other parts of the house when cooking food. However, with many younger couples cooking less frequently or doing lighter cooking with methods such as baking, steaming and air-frying, this has become less of an issue. Open concept kitchens also help to maximize space as your counter top can sometimes double up as a dining table.

Very often, creating an open kitchen layout is more expensive and time-consuming to create because walls need to be hacked down. Knocking down a wall can easily cost about $600. This difference in cost of different types of kitchens depends on the size of the kitchen as well as the amount of work that needs to be done.

#4 Feature Wall

A feature wall is basically a statement piece. The definition of a feature wall is relatively broad but it generally refers to the main wall that is found in the living room. Rather than just a plain wall, a feature wall often has a standout design or drawing done on it.

Some feature walls include a shelves, platforms, lighting and cut-outs for TV cabinet or a cut-out area for TVs. The ideas for a feature wall is endless. Some couples opt for a simple, basic wallpaper, while other couples might choose to splurge on a full-length drawing.

The cost also differs depending on what you would like your feature wall to look like and include. The cost of getting an artist to draw on your entire wall could easily be about $2,000.

#5 Rain Shower

Like its name suggests, rain showers are supposed to give you the feeling of showering in the rain. Rain showers usually have a larger spray head than traditional handheld shower heads. Compared to the powerful spray a handheld shower head tends to offer, the water that flows from rain showers are steady and gentler droplets.

Many rain showers come along with an additional handheld shower head for users to use the one they prefer. Rain showers tend to be slightly more expensive than normal shower heads.

#6 Smart Refrigerators

Some of the new refrigerators in the market offer much more than just a typical fridge. Many fridges now go beyond practical features such as deodorization, custom cooling settings and energy saving functions.

Touch sensors on the outside of the fridge allow you to open the doors with just a touch of your finger. Some refrigerators also have automatic drawers that slide out effortlessly. Built-in cameras are available for some refrigerators. The photo sent to your phone lets you see what you have in your fridge at any point in time.

Note that the prices for each item varies greatly depending on the size specifications and what you want for your home. This also does not include all the other renovations that is carried out in your home such as flooring, tiling, wiring, painting, plumbing, polishing, other installations and works. The total cost of renovation also depends on your contractor and the package offered.

Before splurging on these popular items and home features, look over your budget again and ask yourself if the extra convenience, enjoyment and other intangible benefits are worth the extra cost. The key is to spend within your budget and take all the pros and cons into consideration.